Nigerian Equities Market and a Game of One Step Forward Two Steps Back

The Nigerian Equities Market continued its retrogressive movement, as the All-Share Index took two steps backwards today after taking a step forward in the last trading session. The NSE ASI dropped 1.36% to close at 22,470.79, and Market Capitalization shedding N161.30bn to settle at N11.71tn.

As the market stood at the end of trading on Thursday 23^rd April 2020

Market Capitalization:                    N11.71 Trillion

Volume of Stocks traded:             201,475,387

Value of Stocks traded:                 N3.35 Billion

No of Deals:                                  3,381

NSE All-Share Index

Daily Performance %                      (1.36)

WTD Performance %                      (1.97)

MTD Performance %                      5.49

QTD Performance %                       5.49

YTD Performance %                        (16.29)

Activity level improved today, as volume of stocks traded grew by 8.19% while the value of stocks traded increased by 81.25%. ACCESS was the most traded stock by volume, with 46.80M shares valued at N497.33mn traded in 150 deals. ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by value, with N268.43mn exchanging hands for 19.37M shares in 399 deals.

• Read also: Covid-19 Palliative – Wapic Assurance Plc Refunds Motor Vehicle Insurance Premiums
• Equities Market Rally as Index rose by 0.66% – N78.37bn Gained

Financial services stocks were the toast of Investors, as they accounted for 13 out of the 17 gainers recorded today on the exchange. Heavyweight Industrial and Consumer Stocks; NESTLE, DANGCEM, BUACEMENT and UACN lead 15 losers, as the Investor Sentiment strengthened to 1.1x from 0.2x recorded in previous trading session.

• N780.926 Billion Shared by FG, States and LGs in March 2020 Allocation
• Inflation Hits 23 Months High in Nigeria

All but one of the indices under our watch closed in the negative territory. The Insurance Index declined by 0.07% to close at 120.83, the Oil & Gas Index declined by 0.20% to close at 205.63, the Consumer Goods Index declined by 3.30% to close at 377.56, and the Industrial Goods Index declined by 3.82% to close at 1,023.14. Only the Banking Index appreciated by 0.71% to close at 258.39.

The top 5 gainers for the day were JAIZBANK, CADBURY, UCAP, WEMABANK, and VITAFOAM all appreciating by 10.00%, 9.52%, 9.09%, 9.09% and 6.12% respectively. The top 5 losers were UACN, ETI, LINKASSURE, SKYAVN, and LIVESTOCK, losing 10.00%, 10.00%, 8.62%, 7.22% and 7.14% respectively.

We still maintain our negative outlook for the market for both the short and medium term.

Written by:

Basil Maduakor